If you found the last album, Rubicon, to be too scattered, or were turned off by the jagged edges and right turns, it's ok: you can come home now. Darkest White is streamlined, focused, and solid as hell. If (like me) you found Rubicon to be quite a masterpiece, then you'll still find the band's haunting essence very present here… and ready to carry you away in gothic bliss like never before.

It's getting ridiculous at this point. How can one band continue to have so many amazing albums? I'll just abandon all hope of ever listing them in order of how much I love them.. there'd be like a 4-way tie in there somewhere.

This really is an album that I can see anyone liking, whether you prefer older or newer Tristania, weird or streamlined Tristania, etc. This is just solid and fucking good.

I earlier mentioned something along Mariangela not singing in title track, but whatever, I found that actually, each track is first-time listen essentially damned great!

I noticed that as well. At first I thought she didn't sing enough on this album for my tastes, but eventually I changed my mind. She's not the "lead singer," she's one singer on an incredible team. And the team put out a great album. Plus, she gets like MOST of the amazing melodies here so it's not like she wasn't put to good use

I love her voice. I thought it was more dark, smoky, and raw on Rubicon and I miss that. She seems to have "improved" as a singer but lost a tiny bit of her unique quality. Just a tiny bit. I hate when singers do that. Still amazing, though.

I have seen a video of her perform "Down in a Hole" with Francesco Marras acoustic - her voice seems to be 'matured', if you will, for the setting, but still like I recall. They also do "The Widow". I really dig the sounds on those. I like to check out "Requiem", to compare.....

Oh shit - I just found "Soldier of Fortune" by the two. They should do a damned album!

Extremely annoying female vocals - I can't stand her singing. This album melody-wise is a step down from Rubicon. And Rubicon was also a huge dissapointment for myself.
Weak!
The title song is possibly the only song at least passable in my opinion. And I'm not even trying to compare this album to old Tristania - the album is rubbish in its own right.

I have listened to Darkest White for numerous times now and I find to be Tristania's worst work ever. It's just too bare, nothing fits, except for a few songs, it's so forgettable. They wan't to go extreme and can't carry it, they wanna be atmospheric, but everything get lost in that pile of noise. I liked Rubicon better, and even Rubicon wasn't exactly my cup of tea.

Don't think it's bad at all, pretty good indeed. But as i said, there are some songs that do nothing for me, they go nowhere and i just can't listen to them when i'm replaying Darkest White. But good nonetheless.

I was hoping for this to be an improvement from the weak-sounding Rubicon, instead I found it boring and predictable. The female vocals don't help either (when they appear), although they are slightly better on here than on Rubicon. Not totally bad though, as couple of good moments here and there.

I was hoping for this to be an improvement from the weak-sounding Rubicon, instead I found it boring and predictable. The female vocals don't help either (when they appear), although they are slightly better on here than on Rubicon. Not totally bad though, as couple of good moments here and there.

That is EXACTLY what I thought after the first spin or two. Let me suggest giving it a few more tries. It takes time to reveal itself!

Yes, I'm definitely liking this. I like how Mariangela's voice fits the music now, similar to what happened with Anette in Nightwish... it took her one album to successfully melt her voice into the bands sound.
I also dig the music itself a lot more than on the previous one (and Illumination, btw) where I couldn't stand a single track. I'm wondering if Moen took a main role in composition again instead of just one song...

Anyway, I'm happy that these guys put something like this out. I still think they shouldn't carry on with the name Tristania though... but I might consider assisting to their live show this time if they get over here again. I don't know how she handles the old stuff or how much of it they usually play...

After one listen I'm going to say it's better than I expected. However, it's still rather mediocre and nothing compared to the first few albums.

The female as well as the male vocals are annoying and whiny sometimes, especially when both vocals are combined (like on the song Scarling, which I didn't like at all because of this reason). There isn't much originality and overall it sounds a bit too "poppy" for my taste. This is really good music for people who aren't into metal and are just getting into the genre, since it's very tame metal.

It actually reminds me of Ashes quite a bit, although I think Ashes is definitely a lot better than this, because it has Vibeke who is by far the superior singer, but also because it's less poppy and has a more magical feeling to it.

So this is where the leftovers from the three previous albums ended up. I find all the vocals annoying, the This Part Here Is Dangerous-clichés very tiring, and what comes to their current style; it's way too poppy and lacking ideas.

Yes, I'm definitely liking this. I like how Mariangela's voice fits the music now, similar to what happened with Anette in Nightwish... it took her one album to successfully melt her voice into the bands sound.
I also dig the music itself a lot more than on the previous one (and Illumination, btw) where I couldn't stand a single track. I'm wondering if Moen took a main role in composition again instead of just one song...

Anyway, I'm happy that these guys put something like this out. I still think they shouldn't carry on with the name Tristania though... but I might consider assisting to their live show this time if they get over here again. I don't know how she handles the old stuff or how much of it they usually play...

On the iTunes downloads of these songs, the composer is listed as such on all songs: "Mariangela Demurtas, Kjetil Nordhus, Anders Høyvik Hidle, Ole Vistnes, Tarald Lie & Christer André Cederberg". So, I don't think Einar helped much with the composition on this album. When somebody asked them on their Facebook page if Einar is still a member of the band, they responded, "Yes, but he hasn't had an active role in Darkest White." Hopefully we'll see more of his writing in the next one.

On the iTunes downloads of these songs, the composer is listed as such on all songs: "Mariangela Demurtas, Kjetil Nordhus, Anders Høyvik Hidle, Ole Vistnes, Tarald Lie & Christer André Cederberg". So, I don't think Einar helped much with the composition on this album. When somebody asked them on their Facebook page if Einar is still a member of the band, they responded, "Yes, but he hasn't had an active role in Darkest White." Hopefully we'll see more of his writing in the next one.

That makes sense. It's a beautiful and excellent album but at times it does feel like it lacks some of the "Tristania" sound we've had on the other albums.

On the iTunes downloads of these songs, the composer is listed as such on all songs: "Mariangela Demurtas, Kjetil Nordhus, Anders Høyvik Hidle, Ole Vistnes, Tarald Lie & Christer André Cederberg". So, I don't think Einar helped much with the composition on this album. When somebody asked them on their Facebook page if Einar is still a member of the band, they responded, "Yes, but he hasn't had an active role in Darkest White." Hopefully we'll see more of his writing in the next one.

That makes sense. It's a beautiful and excellent album but at times it does feel like it lacks some of the "Tristania" sound we've had on the other albums.

That makes sense. It's a beautiful and excellent album but at times it does feel like it lacks some of the "Tristania" sound we've had on the other albums.

And what is "Tristania sound"?

I have tried but can't quite put my finger on it. There is a certain "spooky" vibe they usually have that here has been replaced by a more "sad" vibe. Stunningly beautiful, but just a tiny bit different. Sorry, I can't explain better than that!

And I really miss Østen Bergøy's vocals. His rich bass brought so much more to that band than I ever realized till he was gone! Thought that's not really what I was referring to above. Just commenting on his beautiful voice.

That makes sense. It's a beautiful and excellent album but at times it does feel like it lacks some of the "Tristania" sound we've had on the other albums.

And what is "Tristania sound"?

I have tried but can't quite put my finger on it. There is a certain "spooky" vibe they usually have that here has been replaced by a more "sad" vibe. Stunningly beautiful, but just a tiny bit different. Sorry, I can't explain better than that!

And I really miss Østen Bergøy's vocals. His rich bass brought so much more to that band than I ever realized till he was gone! Thought that's not really what I was referring to above. Just commenting on his beautiful voice.

Well, for me Tristania's sound changed with times. Like in late '90s they sounded gothic in every sense of the word as the "gothic metal" genre was at it's peak with bands like Theatre of Tragedy and so on, and they kept changing. I mean, come on, you can't possibly hope for them to release another Beyond the Veil in 2013. As much as I loved their music from that period these times are long gone.

Totally agree with you about Østen, though. When I first started listening to Tristania some years ago I couldn't stand his vocals, I mean really, couldn't! But after a while I started to dig this hollow baritone of his and was indeed sadened when I heard he is leaving.. So foolish of me. And most of my favourite lyrics of Tristania are written by him, so yeah.. double loss (in no way saying that they are bad now, but he has this distinctive type of writing).

After one listen I'm going to say it's better than I expected. However, it's still rather mediocre and nothing compared to the first few albums.

The female as well as the male vocals are annoying and whiny sometimes, especially when both vocals are combined (like on the song Scarling, which I didn't like at all because of this reason). There isn't much originality and overall it sounds a bit too "poppy" for my taste. This is really good music for people who aren't into metal and are just getting into the genre, since it's very tame metal.

It actually reminds me of Ashes quite a bit, although I think Ashes is definitely a lot better than this, because it has Vibeke who is by far the superior singer, but also because it's less poppy and has a more magical feeling to it.

Requiem is the best individual song of Tristania's career, pre and post Morten. Kjetil's vocal harmonies are magical.

Wow, LOL!

Indeed. Although I must admit I was actually laughing when I read that... or crying... or both, I don't know. All I know is that it's his opinion and my opinion is that his opinion is totally ridiculous. Sorry if I'm being harsh, but some things I just can't ignore... That being said, the guy has redeemed himself in my book by handing out a 10 to Old Mornings Dawn.

The key to enjoying this band is to understand that they are almost a new band with each new album, in terms of line up and song writers. I love all of Tristania's albums (haven't heard Rubicon), some more than others, because I drop all preconceptions on what I think they should sound like. I still consider their first four albums to be heaven sent though.

So for all you rigid minded nay sayers, enjoy this band (and other bands) for what they are and not what you think they should be. If you can't do that then just enjoy the classics and move on to something else.:thumbup:

First three opening tracks only talk to my soul, rest of this album purely sucks. This band seem to be completely lost after the release of "Illumination", they couldn't create that gloomy, sad atmosphere as they used to.

I was very skeptical at first, being that I absolutely hated Rubicon. But I listed to this record for the first time and I was immediately sold. To me, this record (as of right now I can say this but my opinion might change in the future) is right up there with Ashes, Widows Weeds, and Beyond the Veil. The only track on here that I found to be kinda weak was Cathedral, I guess it needs to grow on me still . Totally worth the more than the 14 bucks I spent.

Maybe I'll give this album one more chance sometime later, but for now I just can't understand how it can have a higher rating than Ashes. My first thought after listening to it was: "Is it really Tristania?"

Having seen them live made me realize how totally generic this stuff is. These fakers playing total classic songs from the first 2 albums (although the 3 albums after that were great as well) was one of the biggest disappointments in my life when it comes to gigs, if not the biggest disappointment. They totally raped those songs and especially the brilliant song "Beyond the Veil" in which the current vocalist only sung the intro and then disappeared from the stage because she simply doesn't have the vocal range/skill to perform the vocals Vibeke did on the first 5 albums. For the sake of the fans they should just do what I've always said: change the name of the band. Because as far as I'm concerned they would at best be a good cover band of the real Tristania.